


The Backup Protocol

by Halfblood_Fiend



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Ardat-Yakshi, F/M, Flashbacks, Mass Effect 1 spoilers, worried Thane is worried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7679116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halfblood_Fiend/pseuds/Halfblood_Fiend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With an Ardat-Yakshi on the loose on Omega, Shepard and Samara come up with a plan Thane doesn't like. Luckily Thane has a plan of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Backup Protocol

_Maybe it was a mistake bringing Thane along on this one_ , Shepard thought to herself. She watched the Drell out of the corner of her eye as she and Samara searched the tiny Omega apartment of the latest murdered woman. Normally so collected, perfectly still at any given moment, Thane had begun shifting from foot to foot. It was a small tic—small enough that anyone else might have thought he was simply shifting weight as any normal person would. But Shepard had spent too much of her time watching the graceful assassin. Thane didn't move unconsciously. Every movement of his lithe body was deliberate. Precise. Yet as the three of them followed the blood trail of the loose Ardat-Yakshi through Omega, he had begun to fidget. As close to fidgeting as Thane was capable of, at any rate.

His nerves became ever more apparent when Samara discussed using Shepard as bait to lure the renegade Asari out.

After watching Thane thumb his sidearm for the fourth time, eyes darting to the door, Shepard called him out. "If you've got something to say, Thane, just say it."

Samara's mouth snapped shut midsentence and her large pale blue eyes shifted to the Drell. She seemed completely unperturbed by anything, surprising given the nature of their mission. 

"Don't do this, siha," he said immediately. Shepard was impressed that he didn’t even hesitate. Then again, Shepard liked that about him. He didn't beat around the bush and didn't bluster. Frankly, Thane didn’t have the time, and neither did she. 

"If you've got a better plan, I'm all ears," she told him flatly. "Or were you hoping to switch places with me?"

Thane's full lips pursed ever so slightly but Samara spoke before he could.

"I realize why you may be adverse to this, Thane, but this is the only way. Morinth is drawn to glamour and power. You will not attract her. The legendary Commander Shepard, however, will make good prey."

"Good, but not easy," Shepard snorted.

"Of course," Thane said, blinking slowly, large, dark eyes fixed on the Asari. "There...there are no flaws in your plan, Samara—" 

"Have I given you any reason to think I'm incapable of doing this, Thane?" Shepard challenged him.

Thane didn't even look at her as he answered. "No. I _do_ wish you would take this task more seriously, however." 

Shepard bristled. She knew good and well what she was walking into! She wasn’t a fresh soldier, after all, she was _Commander Lucy Shepard_ , first human Spectre. She may not _like_ it but she trusted Samara and _especially_ Thane not to let anything happen to her. Taking the risk was worth it to stop the murders and get Samara on track. Shepard couldn’t afford a crew member whose priorities were split. Besides, the Ardat-Yakshi only killed with sex and Shepard was not interested in the least. There was only one soul in the galaxy that had caught her eye and she wasn't about to be deterred from him. There was no Asari that more desirable to her than who she pursued.

"I don't need to,” she snapped. “There's nothing to worry about." Shepard couldn’t care less how stubborn or foolish she sounded; after Saren, she knew there was nothing in the galaxy she couldn't handle.

"I am afraid I must agree with Thane in this, Shepard," Samara said evenly as the three of them left the apartment district behind. "You are acting far too rash. Morinth is not to be underestimated." 

She was about to snap at Samara, when Thane spoke up again from her right. 

His voice was soft. If Shepard didn't know better, his deep tones had a slight shake to them. "Be very careful. Please, siha." 

That one stopped her in her tracks and made any sharp remark die in her throat. None of them said a word as they made their way through the dirty back alley corridors of Omega to the VIP entrance of Afterlife. For that, Shepard was a little glad. The last thing she wanted was for either of them to hear how unnerved Thane's sincere words had made her. It felt like a very long time since someone had cared for her at all and those memories still stung. 

_"Commander? Luce…I don’t regret a thing." Then the crackle of static and a flash of light… Shepard had been too cowardly to look back at the blast. Her heart was never leaving Virmire._  

Shepard squeezed her eyes shut against the memory of Kaiden. _No, I couldn’t do it_ , she suddenly decided. There was no way she could handle having Thane's “gift” for memory. Not if she would relive _that_ in excruciating detail for the rest of her life. 

The back alley door was not really hidden. Down here, Afterlife only had one guard and no queue. Gaining entrance was easy, leaving all her gear was not. 

The small room behind the sliding door was dimly lit and empty save for a stack of crates in the northeastern corner. They provided the perfect cover for her squad-mates to remain unnoticed and it was here that she began stripping while Samara went over the finer details. 

Thane took each piece of armor from her as Shepard peeled it off and stashed it neatly in the corner. He stowed her weapons with equal painstaking care. Without their comforting weight, she certainly _felt_ more vulnerable and like maybe all her talk of fearlessness and confidence before was just that: talk. 

She watched Thane arrange her personal arsenal with quiet admiration. It was this kind of meticulous attention to detail that endeared him to her. He maintained his weapons as if they were extensions of himself. Though she supposed he took great care of his body too. It _was_ his weapon, as he so often tried to explain. And she could _definitely_ appreciate _that_. 

"Siha," Thane murmured suddenly, drawing Shepard out of her too-pleasant distraction. "You’ve forgotten something." 

Shepard frowned at him and glanced down at her under-armor uniform. It was impeccable as always, not a thread out of place. But before she could tell him so, he crouched down in front her and slipped something hard and cold into her boot. 

_A knife!_

She looked down at him, her brown eyes narrowed, ready to admonish him, but when she met his stern gaze, she couldn’t find her words. His face was dark, emerald scales barely glinting in the low light, heavy brows knit in an intense stare. He looked all at once terrifying and pleading. Thane's fingers squeezed briefly around her ankle and she felt the serrated edge sharp against her skin. 

_Use it_ , he said. 

He stood fluidly without uttering a word. 

Shepard nodded to Samara and Thane, took a deep, steadying breath, and walked into the deafening noise of the club.


End file.
